Into the Lifestream
by Her Pretty Smile
Summary: Their lives are coming to their ends, and Nanaki is just an unexpected, melancholic visitor from afar. — hints of Cloti, Yuffentine, and others.
1. Barret Wallace

**Into the Lifestream**

by Her Pretty Smile

 **Synopsis:** Their lives are coming to their ends, and Nanaki is just an unexpected, melancholic visitor from afar. — hints of Cloti, Yuffentine, and others.

 **Warning:** Unbeta-ed; may contain mistakes or any of the sort.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Square Enix rightfully owns it. I can't _wait_ for the FFVII remake. It's very exciting. Thank you _so_ much, Square Enix!

 **Authoress' Note:** This was attracting cobwebs in my computer as well. I can't believe I wrote this long ago, but I did. If the real thing happened in the movie, I would bawl so, _so_ hard.

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 **F** _i_ na _l_ **F** _a_ ntas _y_ **VII** : **I** _n_ t _o_ **t** _h_ e **L** _i_ festrea _m_

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···

It all happened slowly. _Gradually_. Nanaki had never really expected it, but it seemed that he had no choice in the matter.

Barret was the first to die. When Nanaki visited him in Corel, which was rebuilt years ago into the town it once was, the large, hot-headed man he once knew was now long gone. Not completely, of course, since there was still that familiar, fiery aura Barret harboured in the old days, back when they were AVALANCHE.

Marlene was by his side, crying as she clutched her father's weak, big hand. Cloud and the others were also there, and Nanaki had to pause for a while to look at their appearances. It had been some time since he last saw them since they were, of course, understandably very busy with their lives and didn't really have time for get-togethers.

All of them, except for Vincent, had aged considerably. It was, however, amazing that they still looked younger for their age, as if they weren't ten years older and as if only five years had passed instead. Yuffie was now a young woman whose eyes held more depth than what she had before, and both Cloud and Tifa still had those clear, smooth complexions, their hair not even greying the slightest bit. Cid and Reeve, on the other hand, were definitely on the road towards old age. Only Nanaki and Vincent hadn't changed.

"How long has this been happening?" Cloud asked Marlene quietly. The young teenager had moved in with her father a few years ago, wanting to be with him as much as possible.

"T—Two years," she sobbed, watching Barret's unnaturally grey face. "I—I'm sorry, Cloud… Tifa… Everyone… D—Daddy didn't w—want me to tell you. He—He said it's only a secret between us. But then he collapsed this morning and I didn't know what to do, and—and—"

"Calm down, Marlene," Tifa said softly, placing a hand on the young girl's shoulder and gripping it reassuringly. "We're not blaming you for it. It's all right."

" _Dang it_ ," Yuffie said harshly under her breath. She was sitting on Barret's right side, her tears flowing down her face freely. "You old coot! Why didn't you tell us?! Do you really think we wouldn't be sad when you— _you_ —" She couldn't finish her sentence and just resorted to sobbing instead, hiding her face on the covers of the bed and gripping Barret's arm tightly, as if needing the warmth from his skin to keep her going. The older man just continued to lie there on his bed almost peacefully, almost _motionlessly_.

" _# %$ & this_!" Cid muttered. He was pacing slightly, and Nanaki could see that worry lines were framing his face and seemed to be deepening every minute.

Vincent walked towards Barret and placed his fingers against the man's wrist. "…His pulse is very weak. He's… going to be gone soon. I'm sorry," he said stonily, but there was something in his voice that sounded controlled, as if he was keeping himself from being emotional. "We should say our final words to him now."

Marlene's eyes went wide in shock. "What? _No_! No, that _can't_ be! I—It can't be his time yet. He—He promised to take me to the mines someday! He promised that he would be there for me when I get married! He p—promised me s—so many things… N—No… _NO_!"

" _Marlene_!" Tifa cried out, embracing the hysterical girl into her chest. "Ssh… It's okay… Everything is going to be okay…" she said softly. "Barret wouldn't want you to be so sad, right? These things… they just happen. It can't be helped. All we can do…" Her eyes rested on her friends, whose expressions were somber and anguished, and there were undoubtedly some who remembered old, painful memories. "…is accept it and move on."

"Oh, Tifa," Marlene cried, trembling heavily. "I can't lose him. I _can't_."

"I know." Tifa's expression was pained. "I know, Marlene."

After a few minutes of tension, someone finally spoke up.

"…He was a great man," Cid said, his voice strained. " _Hey_. If you can hear me… Just know that you've been a great friend… to all of us."

"It was a pleasure to know you," Vincent added quietly, and did not say any more.

"Thank you for being with us," Tifa said, giving a gentle, sad smile as her eyes brought about more tears.

"We're gonna be fine," Yuffie said, managing a helpless grin. "Denzel will make Marlene very happy. I'm sure of it. He's running late, so you—you'd b—better still be here when he arrives, all right?"

"Your achievements will be remembered," Nanaki spoke up quietly. "You as well will be remembered, in _all_ of our hearts."

"I have never met a more honourable man in my life," Reeve said calmly, though his voice broke slightly.

It was Cloud's turn. Slowly, he sat in an empty chair beside Barret, and he gave a small, almost imperceptible smile.

"Thanks," he said softly. "For being there. For supporting all of us with your strength. You will always be our friend. And don't worry about us. We can take care of ourselves."

Marlene pulled away from Tifa's arms and faced her father with a red, crying face.

"Goodbye, Daddy…"

Vincent, who was checking Barret's pulse all the while, stilled.

"…He's… gone," he announced.

It was like a dam broke at that very moment. Marlene, Yuffie, and Tifa cried, Vincent stepped away and bowed his head, Cid muttered more curses with his voice breaking everytime, Reeve excused himself outside, Cloud buried his face in his hands, and Nanaki heard the door slam open.

" _Marlene_!" Denzel panted heavily. "I'm here — _Oh_ Gaia…" His outburst was interrupted when he saw his soon-to-be-wife mourning over the loss of her father. In quick steps, he was hugging her tightly, crying along with her.

One week later, Nanaki attended the funeral, but he still couldn't shake off the feeling of loss and emptiness inside him.

Pain was truly a force to be reckoned with.

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Next chapter will be... more grief. _Ulp._


	2. Reeve Tuesti

The next to die was Reeve.

He was caught in the impact of a large monster's bomb while he was on the way to Edge for Barret's first death anniversary. No one had come to help him since he went alone, but he _did_ manage to send a message to Cloud before he died. The moment the latter found him however, he was already long gone.

It was devastating.

What no one knew, though, was that Nanaki found Reeve just before the latter's soul disappeared into the Lifestream. Nanaki had literally exterminated the monster into pieces before frantically casting a Curaga, but it was too late. _He_ was too late.

Reeve only gave him a sad smile.

"Even if I'm gone, there's still always Cait Sith, you know," he said, chuckling weakly.

"But Cait Sith will never be _you_ ," Nanaki choked, staring at Reeve's arms. He was missing both.

When Reeve didn't answer, Nanaki got angry. " _Why_ did you come here alone? _Why_ did you let that monster get the best of you? You could have easily taken it down. _Why_ didn't you?!"

"…I got caught off-guard," Reeve said quietly, the colour in his face slowly fading. "I was thinking about Barret. I didn't know there was a monster in this… area… I thought I had… it cleared… I'd never seen… that monster before… it just suddenly struck… me. I was careless…" His speech was starting to slur.

"We'll always remember you," Nanaki said, panicking when he realized that Reeve's end was nearing. "Everyone thinks of you as a friend. You've—You've been a big help!"

Reeve smiled wistfully. "Thank you… Red XIII. Or should I say… _Nanaki_ …"

Nanaki was already gone by the time Cloud came to the area where Reeve died. One day later, a Cait Sith robot sauntered into Seventh Heaven.

"Hey there, everyooooone!" it howled happily. "How are ya all — _OOF_!"

Yuffie was crushing Cait Sith against her chest in no time. Tifa tackled her from behind, crying hysterically. Cloud, whose arm was being pulled rather forcefully by Tifa, added to the weight of the growing dog pile. Cid wasted no time in lying on Cloud's back, granting him an angry, frustrated squeak from the blond-haired boy. Vincent, who was the more proper of them all, bent before the wailing Cait Sith.

"Let go of me, lass! My _parts_!" Cait Sith yelled desperately, but its voice only came out as a squeak.

"Reeve…" Vincent spoke suddenly in a quiet voice, interrupting the robot's cries. "He's not controlling you anymore, is he?"

Cait Sith seemed to wither at that. "…I'm sorry."

Yuffie only sobbed harder at that. "Wh—Why…? First _Barret,_ and _now_ it's _Reeve!"_

Vincent bowed his head, hiding his pained expression. He had been rather close to Reeve. It struck him hard after hearing about the man's death. He couldn't bring himself to show his true pain to the others, though.

Nanaki had told them all about what happened earlier in the morning. It hurt the canine's ears to hear their cries. If only he had been there sooner… _If only_ —!

Vincent was the one who came up to him and leaned against the wall beside him.

"It's not your fault," he said in a small whisper.

Nanaki didn't know if he could believe that.


End file.
